Agagite

3:1 Agagite. It is possible that Haman was a descendant of Agag, who had been king of the Amalekites at the time of Saul (I Samuel 15:8), and who had been spared by Saul when he destroyed the Amalekites (I Samuel 15:20), then later slain by Samuel (I Samuel 15:33). If so, this would help explain why Haman hated all the Jews, not Mordecai only. However, it is also known, from an Akkadian inscription, that there was a district in Media (later a part of the Medo-Persian empire) named Agag.